CHAPTER 222: OVER THE PAIN

Remus held onto Arabella’s hands like there was no tomorrow, looking into her eyes as though they held all of the answers.

"You can do it," she nodded, never once breaking eye contact, "You just have to push past the initial pain and then you’ll be good,"

He could not take his eyes off the parted little lips inhaling and exhaling air in his arms. It was hard to fathom that merely hours prior to that moment, Silas had his hand clenched around his throat, ready to end him.

The longer he stared at her face, the harder it became to resist.

"But what if he is simply too young to withstand it now?" by then, Arabella had started biting on her own nails.

Every muscle in him tensed, from the tissue holding his neck down to the little fingers wrapped around Arabella’s hands.

Eventually, Silas yielded, opened the cell door and scooped Remus’ body before Arabella could reach him, sensing she’d been about to do the same.

The boy listened, took a deep breath then exhaled. After that, only his features and body spoke, hardening under her watch.

"He will be alright," Silas’ diamonds fell on the snorting little boy who curled up to his chest. He’d fallen asleep even before they’d left the dungeon area, "His body is meant to handle this sort of pain from birth,"

"The medical bay will do," he retorted, a tad calmer than he was before.

"Yes," he muttered while attempting and failing to nod.

Had he been too brash? Unreasonable?

A little taken aback by the sudden sharpness of his tone, Arabella waited a second before muttering the question, "Where will you be taking him then?"

"It’s gone!" she squeaked through the strain her vocal cords faced, "You did it, Rem! The tail is gone!" her laughs mixed in with sobs as she no longer fought her tears.

It wasn’t long before the ground beneath their feet rumbled along with the guttural sounds that kept on climbing in strength.

"That is a relief," he offered her the cutest of grins.

"His father will come to collect him before that happens," he said without thinking his words over.

Discover worlds on

But still...

From behind the boy’s back came little cracks. Those too intensified with the racket he caused.

It was then that his grasp weakened, his breathing haggard and voice softening back to its original melody.

Their moment was only interrupted by the footsteps clacking in the distance, drawing nearer by the second.

His body trembled harder with every bone chilling crack that seemed to come from his spine. The once mighty roars mingled with his cries.

"Yes! You did! You are such a brave wolf," the longer her sentence went, the calmer and softer her tone grew.

In response, he nodded, took even deeper breaths and shut his eyes once more for the storm that had simmered to pick up where it’d left things.

When all was finally over and the calm returned, Rem fell limp to the ground, gasping for every breath his lungs agreed to provide. Arabella followed as even through the bars, she still held his slippery little hands.

It could’ve been another ambush for all they knew. Even Arabella herself had made that suggestion.

No! There was no way of knowing if the boy harbored any ill intent towards Arabella at that moment and therefore, he was left with no other choice but to act accordingly.

"Absolutely not," the man answered a little too hastily.

"We may take him to my room, he can rest in my bed," the young woman followed in his tracks.

Although, Arabella noted it wasn’t over as his tail still peeked over his shoulder.

"I... I did?" he half asked, completely out of air, his half-lidded eyes locked on her face.

"Have you sent a word out for him already?"

All of the sudden, the storm that seemed to be brewing down the bottom of his soul exploded as screams erupted throughout the dungeon, quickly turning to deafening roars that shook even the walls.

"The fact that he had managed to sprout a tail once, means he is more than capable of handling it. He was simply scared to go through that pain again," the questions that swirled Silas’ mind gnawed at him, compelling him to study every inch of Remus’ face, "You helped him overcome that fear. He should be grateful,"

"He still represents a danger," the vampire stated coldly, eyes on the barely moving figure of the boy.

The moment Arabella caught a glimpse of Silas, she sprung to her feet, "Would you please let him out?"

Aside from his twisting, sweat drenched face, the young woman also focused on the fluffy tail that gradually retracted back inside his humanoid body, slowly shrinking from whence it came.

"At least, now he understands that I can’t go with him," her voice broke him out of his trance, "He’ll return from whence he came when he wakes up,"

But it was when his eyes finally shut that things started to take a turn. Growls rose so low, the young woman thought they’d come from somewhere deep and out of sight.

"No, no, no! He doesn’t," she knelt back down, "He understands now that I am not his mother. He understands that he made a mistake by coming here," she turned to Remus, "Don’t you?"

"See?" her eyes flickered back onto Silas, "Please, let him out,"

"Right," she said, "I’d completely forgotten there was a medical wing in the manor," eyes on the floor, her hand wrapped around her mother’s pendant, "Perhaps I shouldn’t have pushed him. I merely meant to help,"

"You are so close, Rem," she gave his hands a little squeeze, "I am with you. You can do it," through the tears that filled her own eyes, she mustered a sweet smile.

From the heart they echoed, earning every quiver, every crack and every ounce of sympathy Arabella had to spare.

"No, but he’ll know where his son is. I simply doubt the boy will wake up any time soon,"